Is anyone else going to MINI autocross school Sat 2/24 in SoCal?

https://bmwperformancecenter.com/mini/schools

I will be attending. It's not actually relevant to the SE but drop me a line if you're going and want to compare notes with another SE driver!

 

You use their cars, which appear to be all F56 JCW automatics. It will be interesting to compare JCW and SE first-hand.
the class has a wet skid pad component, probably for practice modulating under/oversteer.

They also have a different course for 'stunt driving' where you learn to spin on dry pavement(!).

 

I think tires are critical for any car. The Minis tend to be so front-heavy that the FWD suits it pretty well.

 

So this class; 10 students, 5 cars, 2 instructors. I liked the instructors and they had a wide variety of racing experience prior to becoming instructors.
I think it was $750 for the class which went from about 8:30 to 3:30 (might take longer if more students).

Part 1 was classroom, basic basic discussions: driving position, mental process, lines thru corner, weight transfer & grip.
Part 2 was lapping a straight slalom with a hairpin at the end. done with a classmate in the car via walkie-talkie with instructor.
Part 3 was a 'panic braking' exercise to un-learn gradual transition from accel to brake pedal ("break the brake pedal") and engage the ABS. Done with a classmate in the car via walkie-talkie with instructor.
Part 4 was lapping a wet skid pad, with instructor, who randomly yanked the handbrake for random periods of time.
Part 5 was a low-speed twisty circuit, with cones marking turn-in and apex points. Done solo with walkie-talkie after a few parade laps behind instructor.
Part 6 was higher speed circuit lapping (up to ~85mph for me) done solo with walkie-talkie in lead/follow formation.
Part 7 was timed autocross on the Part-5 low-speed course (but with a stop box), 5 or 6 runs.
Part 8 was riding along with an instructor in a M5(?) BMW at 11/10ths for 1 lap of a longer low-speed course (astonishing!).

The gas JCW wasn't drastically different from the SE to me. The biggest difference was the feeling of lightness as in low polar moment of inertia compared to SE. JCW power to weight ratio is obviously higher, but the instant electric torque seems to mask that at least up to ~50mph (stopwatch probably tells a different tale, but that's my impression from the drivers seat). The SE suffers more form torque steer and understeer pulling through a sharp turn than the JCW. The school cars (completely stock) had Continental Extreme Contact summer tires, which weren't in great shape on my vehicle to begin with, and were steaming piles of poo by the end of the higher-speed part. I think everything we practiced was completely applicable to the SE. We left the 'nannies' on except for the panic braking exercise.

There was one other student who was an SE driver (so hey, 20% electric!). He didn't seem into autocross, just wanted to build up his skills. My co-driver was from Canada, not a Mini driver but had some autocross experience and a bunch of vintage British sports cars (MGAs, Healeys, currently beefing up a TR7). He was quite fast considering he hadn't driven a Neo-Mini before.

What I personally learned is:
-- I get too tense... need to consciously relax my hands and shoulders.
-- Look further ahead and no gloating after nailing a corner.
-- Accelerate further into a turn and Stomp on the brakes. Although they weren't teaching this, I had great fun almost plowing past the apex and then tucking into it with the brake pedal (I think this occurs naturally if you have regen on Hi in the SE).
-- Once understeering, admit defeat and get completely off the accel to regain control as quickly as possible.

I do feel like I could repeat the class 2 days in a row and multiply the learnings. But I got enough out of it, for my level of experience. It's simply not possible for me to do that kind of driving on the street, and I simply don't have time to autocross on a regular basis to quickly build those skills. I would say that, regardless of the ability of the instructors, the format would probably not suit an experienced autocrosser (not enough 1 on 1). They have other classes for that in the BMWs.

Apart from that, my wife and I got a reasonable air BnB in Coachella, had a fun time in Joshua Tree Park and a couple of good dinners. While I was in class, she got to poke around in Palm Springs/La Quinta and, bless her heart, didn't buy anything. According to my fitness tracker, the adrenaline from the class burned more calories than ~5 miles of hiking in Joshua Tree!